New First Selectman Set For Debut

Plans For Study Panels Among The Initiatives On Board's Agenda

CANTON — If the agenda for tonight's board of selectmen's meeting is any indication, First Selectman Dick Barlow is eager to make his mark on town government.

The agenda is packed with new initiatives, as well as proposals that have been on the table for a while but which Barlow, a Republican, wants to pursue aggressively.

The meeting will be his debut as first selectman after defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Mary Tomolonius Nov. 6.

Since being sworn in Nov. 19, Barlow has been spending time at town hall, familiarizing himself with its day-to-day routines and discussing policy initiatives with Chief Administrative Officer Paul Fetherston and other town staff.

Barlow said he has started working on various new policies for town hall employees, such as time frames for responding to questions and complaints from the public.

"They're going to have to get used to my style," Barlow said. "I'm high energy and I will be looking for accountability."

At the same time, Barlow said people should not expect wholesale major changes in town government. He said his years of experience as a manager at the state Department of Environmental Protection taught him that things change slowly.

"If we can make little improvements over a period of time, things will get better," said Barlow, who is retired.

Barlow will launch his administration at 7 p.m. today at the Canton Community Center, having put both major and minor initiatives on the agenda for the board of selectmen's meeting.

With a 4-1 Republican majority on the board, it is likely he will get much of what he wants.

Before the election, Barlow and a few others pushed to have the town's only polling place moved out of town hall because of accessibility issues for the elderly and handicapped. They backed off the idea of the community center after the police department said there would be traffic problems and endorsed Canton High School as an alternate site.

Selectmen will discuss where to hold voting for the November 2008 election, with Barlow backing the high school.

He also will ask selectmen to create two temporary study committees, one to look into recruitment and retention of volunteers for the fire and emergency medical services department and the other to study expanding the town's limited senior citizen tax relief program.

In a proposal that could lead to significant changes, Barlow wants selectmen to establish a charter revision commission to consider an array of issues.

Among the possibilities Barlow mentioned for consideration in a recent interview were automatic referendums on the town budget, consolidation of town land use boards, having a common capital improvements budget for the town and schools, and changing the term lengths for town offices.

Barlow said he planned to present more initiatives at the next selectmen's meeting, including holding quarterly public forums where town officials will be available and having a mid-course review of the town's plan of conservation and development, now in the fifth year of its 10-year span.